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Update on the series, now FreeCAD 016 is out, time to compile it on OpenSuse Leap 42.1. Few change, I had to add a repository to have a minimum version 1.55 for boost-devel. The dependencies needed are here.

Yet another update, this time it is FreeCAD 015 installation on OpenSuse Leap 42.1. Last post was 015 on 13.2. – There are not many changes really, merely the repositories. Unfortunately, FreeCAD is not in the official OpenSUSE repositories and the packages I found didn’t work for me :-/

As said in past posts, FreeCAD is a very good Open Source 3D CAD program, I use it sometimes to make 3D objects I print, and sometimes post on Thingiverse, and as far as I could see, the package ready for OpenSUSE has some issues, so I decided to compile myself, based on information I found here and there (i.e. http://www.freecadweb.org /wiki/index.php?title=CompileOnUnix) and by trying out, looking at results and error messages. As said before it may not be complete or perfect, but that worked for me on a fresh OpenSUSE Leap 42.1 install

This is an update of my article about installing version 014 on OpenSUSE 13.2 – Now it’s 015’s turn to be compiled on OpenSuse 13.2 – There are some minor changes compared to previous versions.

As said in last post, FreeCAD is a very good Open Source 3D CAD program, I use it sometimes to make 3D objects I print, and sometimes post on Thingiverse, and as far as I could see, the package ready for OpenSUSE has some issues, so I decided to compile myself, based on information I found here and there (i.e. http://www.freecadweb.org /wiki/index.php?title=CompileOnUnix) and by trying out, looking at results and error messages. It may not be complete or perfect, but that worked for me on a fresh OpenSUSE 13.2 install

The Project (status 22 February 2015)

The idea of this project is to build a vacuum cleaner ‘module’ for Thymio II.

The challenge is to find or build the proper parts so as it is as simple as possible, and in the idea to challenge everyone interested, to submit and test code that would allow Thymio II to cover a room as fast as possible, making only usage of the integrated sensors and features of Thymio II.

NB : The challenge goes beyond the scope of the initial thoughts that are described, the parts made hereafter need to be changed, the suction system is too poor at this stage, and needs a replacement (probably based on cyclone separator) as it sucks only very tiny dust, the current system induces turbulence in the dust container (fluid dynamics) and thus not ready for prime time.
I’m working on it and testing but any proposal is welcome 🙂

So for this, let’s start with the ‘making’

The ‘making’

Thymio II has of course the possibility to be extended with Lego parts. As there are some constraints I decided to also use 3D printed parts, as well as, of course, some other parts for aspiration

3D printed parts

I designed the 3D printed parts with FreeCAD 014. I used FreeCAD because it is off-line (not a Cloud solution which would need permanent Internet connection), and because I used it before, thus know it a bit, and also because it is multi platform (Windows, OSX, Linux).

The parts where made with the ‘Parts’ module of FreeCAD, only using primitives with fusions and cuts. It’s quick and dirty, and an expert would probably do much better.

I designed 3 parts :

The hose (front aspiration part)

The dust container

The top cover for the dust container, which holds an aspiration system and the batteries. This will depend on the suction system adopted

I printed these parts with my Solidoodle 2 3D printer. It’s not the best today but works fine for the purpose. You might have to use a 5mm diameter drill to ‘rework’ the Lego holes, depending on how precise the 3D printer is

Lego

For the Lego part I tried to make it simple and easy to remove.

Once assembled with the other parts, the whole vacuum cleaner module can be easily removed from Thymio II as one piece.

I used LDD (Lego Digital Designer) to generate the assembly instructions and list of needed Lego bricks. You can of course use other bricks to have the same result if you don’t have the bricks listed.

Flexible pipe

I used a flexible pipe to ‘connect’ the front aspiration part to the dust container as seen on picture.

This can usually be found in pet shops where you can buy aquariums, I used 4 pipes, 13 cm long and with a diameter of 10 mm

Suction system (motor)

This is probably the most challenging part. The Suction system is mounted on the top cover of the dust container. It is made by a ventilator/motor/turbin and a battery pack. I tested several ones, but at this time the performance is still poor. Depending on the aspiration surface, type of engine and rotor, as well as the motor power, the results vary a lot, there are unwanted side effects. Furthermore, as adding a filter will even more reduce the suction, I may have to develop a ‘cyclone’ system.

The Code

The code is another big thing. The current tests base on the Thymio II ‘Explorer’ mode (yellow). I will probably base the code on it and adapt it. It will be an interesting challenge to write optimal code so as Vacuumio covers as much as possible of a room as fast as possible.

First prototype

And here is a first video :

This is a quick visual guide on how to open this all in on computer. I spent some time fiddling aroud to find the scres and clips. I hope this will help those who want to give a new life to this computer by adding (changin) RAP or replacing the slow 5400 RPM Hard Drive by a faster SSD on SSHD

So here is what the model looks like

Front

Back (sorry for the fuzzy image)

There are 9 screws to remove to open it, 2 are visible, the next 3 under the cache situated under the stand

One the cache removed you can access the 3 next screws and remove the stand

You now need to remove the cache on the DVD drive by simply but gently pulling it, you can then access the next 2 screws

Al last, remove the rubber parts at the bottom of the screen, and you can access the last 2 screws to open it

Here is a visual so as you can see where the clips are, this was not simple to find but you must unclip it with, ie a screw driver or so

Inside of it you can access the hard drive directly by removing 1 screw, or the memory by removing several more screws (not all shown by arrow) and take off the main plate

This is not very precise but I hope it can help; as I didn’t find any instruction or manual on the web I wanted to share at least some info.

This is an update… sort of, of the article from February which was about installing version 013 on OpenSUSE 13.1 (that was in French, decided to post this one in English)

As said in last post, FreeCAD is a very good Open Source 3D CAD program, I use it sometimes to make 3D objects I print, and sometimes post on Thingiverse, and as far as I could see, the package ready for OpenSUSE has some issues, so I decided to compile myself, based on information I found here and there (i.e. http://www.freecadweb.org /wiki/index.php?title=CompileOnUnix) and by trying out, looking at results and error messages. It may not be complete or perfect, but that worked for me on a fresh OpenSUSE 13.2 install